INDIVIDUALS & SOCIETIES

"The choices people make when buying products can influence equity."

Source: The Economist
Source: The Economist

Source: Food Empowerment Project
Source: Food Empowerment Project

Source: Confectionery News
Source: Confectionery News

This RESEARCH PATHFINDER will help you find relevant information for your project on Fair Trade. You will find print resources (books, magazines, newspapers.) and online resources (websites, databases and documentaries).


How to start your research
The first step in any research project is to determine what information you need. Ask yourself, what information am I looking for? Think of some words related to your topic, list facts and information you already know, then list things you would like to know.

Write some questions you would like to find answers to.
Example:
What does it mean to be fair trade?
What are the ways in which citizens might be able to influence global trade?
How do different governments regulate labour?
Do the products in our supermarkets come from modern day slave labour?

Write some keywords or related words connected to your topic.
Example:
"Fair trade", Chocolate, Banana, Football, Tea, Coffee, Flowers, Child labour, Slave labour


Possible sources of information to help answer your questions

Before you start searching for the information, you need to know what you are looking for. The keywods or related words you listed can be used to search for the information in the various sources of information..
Some possible sources of information are:
  • Books
  • Magazines
  • Newspapers
  • Encyclopedias
  • Websites
  • Documentaries
  • Societies and Organizations
  • People with firsthand information about your topic (primary source information)
  • Primary source documents (letters, legislation papers, speeches, statistical data, government documents, interviews, surveys)


Exploring sources of information


1 - Books and Websites

Find books in the library and selected Websites on the Library Catalog

Once on the library website, click on Catalog. Write "Banana"on the search box and click on the subject button. See how many books on the topic are there in the library.

Click on Catalog
Click on Catalog






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Write BANANA on the search box and click on SUBJECT

2- Encyclopedias

Select World Book Student
Select World Book Student

Encyclopedias are a good source of information to start your project and to understand your topi. World Book Web is an excellent source where you can find related articles and websites as well as primary source information.

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Choose WORLD BOOK STUDENT to start your search



3- Magazine and Newspaper articles, primary source documents

Choose EXPLORA SECONDARY SCHOOLS or POINTS OF VIEW for this project
Choose EXPLORA SECONDARY SCHOOLS or POINTS OF VIEW for this project

EBSCO is a collection of databases that provides full-text articles from more than 500 magazines and newspapers as well as primary source documents such as speeches, films and images. Two of the databases are going to provide you with relevant information on your topic. They are Explora Secondary School and Points of View

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NOTE: To use EBSCO and World Book Web from home, you need a user ID and password that can be found on the student portal, under Resources - Library Information - How to access library databases from home.

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What information does the source provide?

Now read the information you gathered.
  • Is the information useful and relevant?
  • Is the site updated? When was the information posted?
  • Who is the author?


Have you acknowledged every source of information you used in your work?

Avoiding Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the deliberate use of someone else's ideas without acknowledging the source.

Give credit whenever you:

  • Use another person's idea, opinion or theory
  • Use any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings, or any piece of information that are not common knowledge
  • Use Quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words
  • Paraphrase another person's spoken or written words

Citing your Sources of Information

Use EasyBib to cite sources and make a bibliography or list of references. Click on the icon below to login to EasyBib.
Create a new project and name it DEMAND FAIR TRADE. Make sure you select MLA.

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Click here to create the new project

If you need help, ask the librarian!